Covington takes temporary conservatorship of Frank Duveneck home
The city of Covington says it's stepping in to prevent the collapse of the boyhood home of world-famous artist Frank Duveneck.
Kenton County Circuit Judge Kate Molloy recently gave the city temporary conservatorship over the property at 1226 Greenup Street, which is owned by The Frank Duveneck Arts and Cultural Center Incorporated. The city filed a petition for that conservatorship in January under a Kentucky law passed in 2022. It allows the city to enter the property and do necessary work on it.
"We have all the powers, duties, and rights of an owner to possess, control, rehabilitate, and maintain the property, but we're not the owner," acting City Solicitor Frank Schultz said in a statement.
Duveneck Arts and Cultural Center President Charles Alexander claims some of the damage to the home was caused by a 2018 demolition next door and that the group has been raising funds to restore the property. He says the group has tried to work with the city, but to no avail.
"We've got state historic tax credits to help us improve it once we get federal historic tax credits, which were in movement when they started taking us to court," he says.
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The group and the city have struggled with each other over the property for years. Alexander says the city has dragged its feet when it comes to helping fund a renovation.
But the city says the group hasn't been responsive to holding up its responsibilities keeping the house safe and up to code. Inspections over the last five years have detected problems with gutters, an unsafe chimney, a hole in the foundation, animal infestations and other issues, according to the city. Those have led to $16,000 in fines and other expenses that have gone unpaid.
Covington Neighborhood Services Director Brandon Holmes says historic tax credits take time to utilize, and the city needs to take action now to prevent the building from collapsing.
Holmes says a structural engineer confirmed the urgency of the house's current condition.
"When you have an engineer say there's an imminent risk of falling or failure, that's significant and you need to move immediately," he said. "The city is really operating in an emergency fashion now."
Holmes pushed back at the idea that the city didn't try to work with the Duveneck Arts and Cultural Center.
"We were trying to work in partnership and the ownership didn't have the resources," he says. "We're going to try and maybe raise some money together, but none of that happened and this is where we're at today."
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Duveneck gained fame for his realist paintings and sculpture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His work includes the iconic "Whistling Boy" painting and a number of others well-known in the region and nationally.
He lived in the house on Greenup Street from the time of his boyhood and off and on throughout his life when he wasn't studying or teaching in Europe. Duveneck's stepfather built the house in 1861, and Duveneck had his studio in a later rear addition to the house. He was living there when he died in 1919.
